Congo timeline

By Dessie247
  • Period: Dec 20, 1450 to

    History of Congo

  • First European to visit Africa
    Dec 20, 1482

    First European to visit Africa

    Portuguese navigator Diogo Cao becomes the first European to visit the Congo; Portuguese set up ties with the king of Kongo. Once he got there he started slavery in the northern countries.
  • British, Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants engaged in slave trades

    British, Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants engaged in slave trades

    British, Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants engage in slave trade through Kongo intermediaries. The Africans were working to survive.
  • Set a private venture

    Set a private venture

    Belgian King Leopold II sets up a private venture to colonise Kongo. British explorer Henry Stanley navigates Congo river to the Atlantic Ocean. Leopold commissions Stanley to establish the king's authority in the Congo. European powers at the Conference of Berlin recognise Leopold's claim to the Congo basin.
  • Leopold Announcement

    Leopold Announcement

    Leopold announces the establishment of the Congo Free State, headed by himself.
  • Belgium

    Belgium

    Belgians conquer Katanga. Eastern Congo wrested from the control of East African Arab and Swahili-speaking traders.
  • Belgium state annexes

    Belgium state annexes

    Belgian state annexes Congo amid protests over killings and atrocities carried out on a mass scale by Leopold's agents. Millions of Congolese are said to have been killed or worked to death during Leopold's control of the territory.